I requested this as it was a book about books. I loved the friendships and how they all came together. Really heart-warming, I can see a lot of people enjoying this book.

I've followed the author on Twitter for years now so was eager to read her debut novel. I'm pleased to say it definitely delivers. It's a heart-warming and cute contemporary YA with complex and well-developed characters. It's also wonderfully inclusive.

The Paper and Hearts Society was a fun light read but also provided meaningful messages on sensitive subjects.

The story followed Tabby who has moved to a different town and finds a bunch of book lovers (other than Cassie maybe) who start a book club. They form a beautiful friendship and Tabby learns how to face Jess and her bullying.

I found the characters a bit over the top at some points but Olivia was just a lovable character! I wasn't very invested in Tabby and found her a bit annoying. The writing did feel a bit amateur at times. I was aggravated by Tabby's decisions such as saying bad things about Henry, Ed and the others to Jess. She would obviously screenshot it and send it to them and that's exactly what she did!

This did give me some new books to try though! Overall this wasn't the most unique book but I quite enjoyed it and would read the next in the series.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the E-arc!

Fantastic title to give to younger teenagers who need that romance/friends/life 'pink lit' but when I feel uncomfortable giving them more well-known titles which are often quite mature in terms of sexual content or language. Fills a gap on the shelf. Sweet and lovely read, easy to get through.

This was a really sweet book about making new friends and finding others with similar interests. It's a bit cheesy and not the most thrilling plot but it kept me interested enough. I won't be shouting about it and I probably won't read the next in the series but I can see it's charm and appeal to book lovers.

Such a fun and witty read! I really enjoyed how the story flowed and the writing was fab and quick paced! I’m looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

This is exactly the type of book I wish I had when I was a teenager. It's a book about being yourself and finding your people. I can't wait to carry on reading the series

I was really charmed by this book! It's the story of a book club of teens - the eponymous 'Paper & Hearts Society' during the summer holidays. Four of the members have been friends for years, but the focus of the story is the new addition at the inaugural meeting. 15 year old Tabby's family are moving to town to be nearer to her Grandma, with her parent's sending her on ahead so she can enjoy her summer whilst they get on with the packing. They don't quite realise that they're also offering Tabby a means of escape from the bullying that has been consuming her and destroying all the self-confidence she has. She no longer feels worthy of friendship which makes her reluctant to open up to her new book club friends. Will Tabby be able to move on from her past? Will the past even let her go?
Lucy Powrie has created such a wonderful set of characters, it's such a joy to follow them on their journey. They feel like real teens who love each other deeply. Their mutual love of books is such a delight to read, they're unabashed in their love of Shakespeare, Austen, Hughes, Plath and a whole host of modern YA too. Tabby's experiences of bullying are wonderfully well-handled, believable and raw. I think reading about her journey will mean a lot to so many young people.

This is such a fun book that explores important themes like friendship, bullying, sexuality, mental health, and fitting in. It shows how lovely it is when you find a good community of people who feel like your new family and come together over a love of books!

I’m a bit older than the intended audience so sometimes it read a little young for me, but that’s absolutely not a complaint - the tone is perfect for younger readers, and I can imagine it being both a fun and beneficial read for anyone 10+.

I’ve been following Lucy Powrie for ages as she wrote this and it’s been exciting to finally read it. I really enjoyed it and I can’t wait for the sequel!

Paper and Hearts Society is a cute little summer read by famous booktuber Lucy Powrie. It follows Tabby Brown who is tired of trying to fit in with everybody else. She doesn’t want to be the norm but tries to anyway. Basically it’s the trope of she isn’t like any other girls but more cute and adorable. She would rather read books than go to parties so pretty much like the whole of booktube. That’s when she finds her people, she joins a book club about celebrating books but when she thinks she is doing great, things start to go weird especially when she is an awkward little butterfly.

This book is such a cute read. I wish this was about when I was young so that I would be joining the paper and hearts society myself. All aboard the train. This is definitely targeted towards a younger audience and are meant be inspired by this movement that paper and hearts society starts. I mean they have an Austen themed fancy dress party. A little geeky I know but something 12 year old me would have enjoyed even if I hadn’t read the books just yet.

Lucy really knows how to write these characters because she herself has been there. You can see her teenage voice coming out within her writing. I couldn’t help but fall in love with these characters. I was so enthusiastic about this book when she announced it and couldn’t have waited to read it. Luckily I got an arc from netgalley and I read this in the beginning of my holiday. It was such a relaxing book and the plot moved really fast.

3 out of 5 stars.

A really sweet, feel good YA debut. Lovely and funny and heartwarming, it is a perfect summer read. Can't wait to see what she writes next!

A heartwarming YA story made for book lovers, The Paper & Hearts Society by Lucy Powrie is an effortlessly fun read.

Bursting with pop culture references, from YA books to Stranger Things this book feels fresh and modern. Instagram and texts play as big a part of these characters lives as any teen today. Conversation dances about from dialogue to texts and back, the same way communication does in our lives today.

What truly makes this book special is the friendship group. These five misfits are what friend group dreams are made of. Tabby has just moved to the area, with some issues in her past she has yet to resolve. She comes across a book club poster in the library and decides to go for it. There she meets Olivia, Cassie, Henry and Ed and the story really gets going.

This book is fun.
The banter between the characters flows down the page and the adventures they get up to are truly inspirational. Later on in the book, the club decides to go on a literary road trip and visit places such as Bath, Stratford and Haworth. This is the epic book trip I have dreamed of and so I was living vicariously through the group as they visited these incredible places.

Of course, I know Bath very well having lived there for many years, and so it was so cool to read about a place you know so well and the places they went to. But even those places I haven’t yet been, still felt very real and well described, as if I was there alongside them.

If you like books then this is a lot of fun to read. Powrie knows her market and she has written the best bookish YA book I’ve ever read. It is still very much a YA book, with teen drama and identities explored, but done in such a genuine and fun way. So long as it continues the Paper & Hearts Society’s heart and warmth, the sequel should be a lot of fun too.

This should definitely be added to the canon of 'great YA books about books.' A really sweet portrayal of the rewards of being yourself, and not being embarrassed about what you're passionate about, as the right things/people will come to you.

Thanks to Hachette Children's Group and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is absolutely fine. It's not amazing or wildly original but it does what it says on the tin. It's a cute, contemporary YA book about a book club.

What I did like about this book was that it knows its target audience. The main character was 15 and actually....acted like a 15 year old. That might seem obvious but if you read a lot of YA you'll know it's not something that can be taken for granted. This book is definitely skewed towards a younger reader base.

The issues explored are pretty par for the course. A young girl moves to a new town, makes some new friends and for some completely inexplicable reason doesn't tell them anything about the rather simple troubles in her past and it all blows up into a big hot mess.

The supporting characters are all nice enough, the love interest is a bit of a drip but harmless enough.

There's nothing wrong with this book I just didn't find it that compelling. It was Ok. It was fine. It was nice.

I thought this book was great. I loved the book club and wish I’d had a book like this around when I was younger! The friendships were great and it was just a really fun read.

THIS IS THE BOOK THAT HAS BEEN MISSING FROM EVERY BOOK LOVERS SHELF! Especially for contemporary fans. Lucy Powrie has written a book lovers dream, filled with references to so many of my favourite books! Every time a title of a book I loved was name dropped, I felt a rush of excitement!! It especially feature a lot of UKYA books, which Powrie has always been a big supporter of, which I found so great because it's always nice to get some good British culture in books that I can relate too!

As a former resident of Bath, I loved the bits where they were in Bath. It's just always so fun to see familiar places in books. And though there were some very important places missed out (Sally Lunn's Buns? THE JANE AUSTEN CENTRE!!!) it was written so well that I can definitely forgive Powrie for her oversights. I very much loved the scene set in Topping's Bookshop as that is a lovely place to shop for books!

The issues tackled in the book were so important and well written as well. Obviously, I want to spend this whole post fangirling about books, but it was so good to see Powrie tackle the break down of a friendship and the after effects of that kind of life event and how it can haunt you and follow you as you try to make new friends.

This book has so many things going for it. I can't sing it's praises enough.

The Paper & Hearts Society 

I was SO excited to read this book! Not only because Lucy was one of my first blogging friends and I’m super proud of her for publishing a book, but also because it sounds like the perfect book for book lovers - and it is! The Paper & Hearts Society is an ode to all things literary: books, book clubs, and book lovers. I loved it!

TP&HS is about 15-year-old Tabitha (Tabby) Brown who loves reading. She’s spending the summer with her gran in Dorset and plans to spend it reading in the garden. When she goes to the library, however, she finds a leaflet for a book club hidden next to one of her favourite books and decides to join. There she meets Olivia, Cassie, Henry, and Ed, a bunch of bookish best friends. Tabby finally feels like she’s found her people, but with an ex-friend harassing her on social media and threatening to take away Tabby’s newfound happiness, Tabby's worried it will all come crumbling down.

I loved this book. Anyone who has been reading my blog for awhile will know I adore YA contemporary novels - especially light-hearted ones. The YA genre is sparse when it comes to feel-good reads. Although TP&HS has a darker theme running as an undercurrent, it remains mostly a light - hearted read about friendship, love, and books (of course!)

The first thing I noticed about TP&HS was Tabby's love of books, and indeed, this is the main theme of the book. I absolutely love reading books about books or characters who love books as much as I do. Anyone who is in love with the written word will feel a deep admiration for this book. From Tabby's thrill at joining the library to pop culture references and bookish themed dance parties, I could relate to the enthusiasm and excitement Tabby felt when it came to all things literary. I loved the bookstagram references, the shelfies, the bookish banter, but most of all, I loved how books was what bound this group of friends together. And isn't that true for us book bloggers? Didn't we feel as if we found our people among our little areas of the internet?

The second thing I noticed was how gripping TP&HS was. I read this book in one sitting. I was quite disgruntled when I had to be torn from this book by tedious chores and other responsibilities, as I was completely sucked into the story. I loved the setting; it was warm and deliciously summery. Lucy perfectly balanced a warm, jubilant atmosphere with an air of tension, as we watched Tabby's new friends and her past toxic friendships draw closer to collision. TP&HS was quite simply unputdownable. There also also DEFINITELY moments you'll be covering your eyes because TENSION and also squealing because Tabby and Henry are adorable!

I also loved the characters. I saw a vast amount of potential in Tabby that she wasn't tapping into because of the harassment she'd received. When Tabitha found her voice and her confidence returning, I was overjoyed. Tabby had wonderful character development and really found herself as a person. She made some silly mistakes that were rooted in her fear and insecurity, but by the end of the book, her development was evident. I didn't adore Tabby as much as Ed and Henry, but she's a solid character that learns from her mistakes.

I freaking adored Ed – he's exactly the type of best friend I need! He's supportive, funny, and loves food – what's not to love? I really hope Lucy writes a book from his perspective because I ADORE Ed!

And Henry – wow! I don't blame Tabby for being in love with him. I might be a little bit in love with him myself! He's got that mysterious, quiet charm about him. He loves reading and poetry. He's calm, has quality banter, and is a supportive friend. I loved Henry!

Olivia was adorably enthusiastic. Her excitement and energy made her a lovely character to read about. Cassie was a complicated character and at first I wasn't sure how I felt towards her, but I soon saw the reasons for her actions. Lucy wrote her with depth and sensitivity, and by the time the book was over, I liked her character a lot more.

The friendship dynamics were brilliant! There was a little bit of drama but there was mostly love, support, and banter. I love Henry's quiet support for Tabby, Ed's constant requests for food, Olivia's enthusiasm, and Cassie's dry sense of humour (even though I thought she could be a bit harsh sometimes!). They had found a family among themselves that they knew they could always rely on – I absolutely adored the sense of unity between them.

I also really appreciated the anxiety representation. As someone who has struggled with severe panic attacks in the past, I thought Tabby's panic attacks were written with raw authenticity – the randomness of them, the dizziness, and not being able to breathe, among other things. Tabby also shows signs of social anxiety. There were thoughts that echoed in her head that I think a lot of people with anxiety will be able to relate to!

I think the only thing that prevents me from giving TP&HS a full five cupcakes is that I sometimes felt as if the dialogue had excessive wit, and at times the humour was too scathing (I'm not great with sarcasm and dry sense of humour, so this is a more a me thing).

The Paper & Hearts Society was a wonderfully uplifting start to a new bookish series. It's light-hearted but at the same time deals with issues such as mental health, bullying, sexuality, and family troubles with sensitivity. With a lovable group of book-loving characters, literary road trips, a bountiful amount of doughnuts, and excellent friendship and family dynamics, The Paper & Hearts Society is a great summer read!

THE PLOT
We join Tabby as she starts a new chapter in her life, moving to a different town to be with her grandma. Whilst she’s trying to start afresh, the girl who bullied her at her old school continues to find ways to torment her. Being the book lover that she is, one of the first things Tabby does in town is head to the library. It's there that she comes across the advert for a book club. Hoping to get her grandma off her case about finding something to do over the summer, Tabby decides to give it a try.

THE CHARACTERS
Tabby is the perfect lead for a YA story. She's exactly the type of character that teen readers will be able to relate to, and she's experiencing things that countless people her age will have to deal with or may be faced with in the future. In a time when we can never really shut ourselves off from the online world, it's so important for authors to explore how bullies can target victims through social media. It also helps to show them that there is always a way forward, even when it feels hopeless.

Though she's having a hard time, Tabby gets to meet such wonderful characters through the book club that eventually becomes The Paper & Hearts Society. What I love most about these characters is how different they are, and yet they still manage to form a perfect team. Their readings tastes are also different, but it doesn’t matter in the slightest because they still love sharing stories and bonding through their love of words.

REASONS TO LOVE
- BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS! I could quite literally scream for hours on end about how much I love the concept of this story being based around a book club. It gives us so much fantastic and relatable content. But the absolute best part is that thanks to the characters all being major bookworms, and the fact that Lucy Powrie is of course a book blogging Queen, we get SO MANY MENTIONS OF BOOKS!!! The YA recommendations that are effortlessly slipped in here are truly iconic. I’m going to be hunting a few of them down in my local library, that’s for sure.

- PERFECTLY YA. I’ve said this before many times, but it’s so important that a YA book is actually YA. As someone who is now closer to 30 than I am 20 (hahahahahahahaha *cries*), I believe anyone should be able to read whatever books they want, no matter the target age range. But it’s so important that YA still remains aimed at the actual target audience. This is a book that teenagers will definitely be able to find parts of themselves in. Whilst I’m still able to enjoy it, I’m so grateful that this book wasn’t written with me in mind.

- THE BEST BOOKISH ROADTRIP. This has to be one of my favourite roadtrips I’ve read in a story, simply because it’s any book lover’s dream. The gang visit so many places of note when it comes to literature. I may be extra jealous of the visit to Shakespeare’s house because I did actually have to opportunity to visit it when I was in high school but couldn’t afford the fee at the time. DAMN YOU, BILLY.

- Also throwing this out there: MAIN CHARACTER WITH GLASSES!!! As someone who has been in glasses since the age of three and will be for the rest of my life, I always seek out characters with glasses, especially ladies. There are always more male leads with glasses than there are female…

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Genuinely, I could write out a list of 100 things I loved about this book, but we’d be here all day. The only tiny issue I had was that I rooted for the side pairing more than the main pairing, but I know that the sequel follows them a little more, so I am ridiculously excited. These characters are all super adorable and I cannot wait to see what they get up to next. Bring on the next bookish adventure!

Don't normally read this type of book, however found myself wanting to know more about Tabby. Can't wait f o r the next one.... It does show how much society has changed with the internet and social media and how it can affect lives so much. It does make you think it was hard enough being a teenager and getting bullied but now you can also be got at through your social media accounts. I have a daughter who is 12 and hope she never has to go through this.
Thank you net galley for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.

It’s always immensely rewarding to follow someone (on Twitter!) from a distance as a champion of YA and books in general gets to have their moment as a published author, and so we have the YA debut of Lucy Powrie. She has established herself as one of the most influential booktubers in the UK and it makes sense that her debut is a book about books!

Tabby is an excellent lead character, finding her way in a new town with her Gran, mainly hoping to avoid people and drama by reading her way through the summer and forget about her “friend” Jess for a while. The book club she joins shows her that people may not, after all, be the worst and her faith in humanity begins to be restored. Until her worlds collide.

The strongest features of The Paper and Hearts Society revolve around the epronymous book club. Olivia, Cassie, Ed and Henry are all brilliantly drawn and are given time to develop as characters. Though in third-person perspective, we dip into Tabby’s rampant insecurities and imposter syndrome regarding her new group of friends. Once the five get together and Tabby is in their world, the narrative flies along at an enjoyable pace. The early main scenes centre around the book club’s themed gatherings, from a Harry Potter movie marathon to a Hunger Games style game of tag. It’s all really fun and innocent and the dialogue between the five sparkles. There is some tension in the air, some coming from Cassie as she is wary of a new member and some from Henry as he takes a liking to Tabby. There’s also a myriad of contemporary YA title-dropping, as well as classic titles, perfect for any book obsessive reading this.

The spectre of Tabby’s past looms in the background as social media rears its ugly head, showing the worst of Instagram et al. Reflective of real life, social media threatens to pull the group together as Tabby becomes consumed by it all.

The latter third of the book takes in a literary roadtrip for the book club to the homes of Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters and more. Lucy Powrie then seeks to champion the positive side to finding that group of friends, finding your tribe, and leaning on them for support through thick and thin.

The Paper and Hearts Society is a really nice story, with so much for book-lovers to enjoy, along with a fizzing contemporary YA tackling so many of the issues which are prevalent in modern society.

Lucy Powrie is @LucytheReader on Twitter